With a Kiss and a Prayer (The Cliffehaven Series)

by Ellie Dean

  ‘Supreme Allied Headquarters have issued an urgent warning to inhabitants of the enemy-occupied countries living near the coast,’ he stated solemnly. ‘The warning said that a new phase in the Allied air offensive had begun. Shortly before this warning, the Germans reported that Havre, Calais and Dunkirk were being heavily bombarded and that German naval units were engaged with Allied landing craft.

  ‘This new phase will particularly affect people living roughly within twenty-five miles of any part of the coast. The Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force has directed that wherever possible an advance warning shall be given to the towns in which certain targets will be intensively bombed. This warning will be perhaps less than one hour in advance of the attack. The warning will be conveyed in leaflets dropped by Allied planes.’

  A breathless hush filled the kitchen as the planes carried on thundering overhead and the announcer continued.

  ‘The German news agency reported that Allied airborne troops have landed in the area of the mouth of the Seine. That Havre has been heavily bombed, and German naval forces were engaged with Allied landing craft. Calais and Dunkirk were being attacked by strong Allied bomber formations. The agency added that so far, no Allied airborne troops have been landed at these two points.’

  The man paused and Peggy stilled Daisy, who was getting restless and banging a spoon on the table.

  ‘Here is the rest of this morning’s news,’ said Frederick Allen.

  ‘The latest news from Italy is that the Allied advance continues beyond the Tiber from Rome. The Italian General Bencivenga has assumed military and civil governorship on Allied authority. King Victor Emmanuel signed a decree yesterday, transferring his powers to the Crown Prince. The King now retires from public life, and his son becomes Lieutenant General of the kingdom, until the Italian people have an opportunity of deciding by free vote the country’s future form of government.

  ‘A Te Deum, in thanksgiving for the deliverance of Rome, will be sung in all Catholic churches in England and Wales next Sunday.’

  Peggy made a mental note to go to the special mass, and rather hoped Ron might accompany her – but it was a forlorn wish, for he hadn’t been inside a church for years unless it was for a wedding or christening.

  Frederick Allen’s voice broke into her thoughts. ‘President Roosevelt has congratulated General Sir Henry Maitland Wilson on the splendid success in Italy, but warned that ultimate victory still lay some distance ahead. The distance would be covered in due time but the going would be tough and costly.

  ‘In further news, last night’s Russian communiqué reported another twenty-four hours of successful defence against continued German heavy attacks north and north-west of Jassy, on the Romanian Front. Red Air Force bombers carried out a concentrated attack on the railway junction and other military objectives, and dozens of fires were burning before the raid was over. The Germans have lost forty-one tanks and thirty-nine aircraft during the past twenty-four hours.’

  As Frederick Allen went through the headlines again and gave further, more detailed instructions on what the citizens of enemy-held areas should do when ordered to evacuate, everyone started talking at once.

  Peggy was as excited as a schoolgirl, for it seemed her prediction was right, and that before long the Allies would be marching through the streets of Paris. She quickly finished her cooling tea, mopped Daisy’s face clean of blackberry jam and carted her off to the bedroom to get them both dressed for this most auspicious of days.

  Sarah and Ivy helped Cordelia upstairs shortly afterwards, all three chattering like sparrows as they discussed the news and what it might mean – while a rather more subdued and thoughtful Rita followed slowly behind them.

  Ron waited until the kitchen was clear of women and then leant back in his chair and smoked his pipe. There was no doubt about it, he thought; peace was on its way, but as Roosevelt had warned, the struggle would be long and hard, and the brave young men out there in ships, tanks and planes would be called upon yet again to make terrible sacrifices.

  He placed his hand on Harvey’s head as the dog sat at his knee and rested his nose on his thigh. Ron understood the excitement the news had engendered – he’d felt it himself – but for the women’s sake, he hoped their delight in the invasion would not bring tears. Untold numbers would be killed or maimed before peace was finally won, and with Brendon and Jack Smith caught right in the middle of this invasion, and his Jim fighting in Burma, none of them could rest easily until victory was assured.

  His thoughts turned to Seamus and Joseph, the two grandsons he’d already lost. Frank and Pauline must be terrified for Brendon, for although Pauline had refused to believe it, their only surviving son was out there somewhere in the Channel taking part in the invasion. He could only hope that Dolly’s presence would fortify Frank and help to keep Pauline from going over the edge – but by the sound of things, Pauline saw her mother’s arrival as an unwanted intrusion, and would no doubt vent her spleen accordingly.

  ‘As long as she doesn’t come round here causing trouble,’ he muttered around the stem of his pipe. ‘She’s the last thing Peggy needs right now.’

  And then there was Anne’s husband Martin, Kitty’s Roger and brother Freddy along with Cissy’s young pilot, Randolph Stevens. At least they were safely in the POW camp Stalag III, and not up there supporting the invading troops in their fighter planes. They’d been on the point of exhaustion when they’d been shot down and captured, but he knew that if they caught wind of today’s news, each and every one would be champing at the bit in frustration that they could play no part in it.

  But what of his younger son, Jim, caught up in the fierce fighting in the Far East? The Japs were on the run from India and pouring into Burma and Siam, but despite the few victories by the Americans in the Pacific, there was no hint that the arrogant emperor was about to surrender. Ron didn’t know much about the Japanese, but he’d learnt enough to realise that surrender would mean loss of face – a heinous shame that could only be atoned by ritual suicide.

  Ron grunted and tapped the dottle from his pipe into the ashtray on the table. When you were up against people like that, it would take a miracle to defeat them.

  He said none of this to Peggy as she came bustling into the kitchen, closely followed by Sarah and Ivy. ‘I’ll be off to see Frank and Pauline before I go to the hospital,’ he announced, fetching his coat and cap. ‘Dolly will pick you up again tonight, and Lil will bring Daisy back after her tea.’

  Peggy kissed his cheek. ‘Thanks, Ron,’ she said, still breathless with excitement. ‘Give Pauline my love, and try to be nice to her. She can’t help the way she is.’

  Ron grimaced, dragging on his coat and ramming his cap on his head. ‘I’ll be back late tonight. The Anchor will be busy after all the excitement of the invasion, and without Rosie to lighten my life, it’ll be hard going.’

  Ron had reached the top of the track leading down into Tamarisk Bay with Harvey when he saw Dolly striding towards him in tailored slacks, light sweater and jacket, clearly out of sorts. ‘Are you off to see Danuta?’ she asked.

  ‘Aye, but I was going to see Frank and Pauline first.’ He regarded her quizzically. ‘What’s up with you on this very fine day, Dolly? I’ve never seen your feathers so ruffled.’

  ‘I’d advise you to steer clear of Pauline for now,’ she said darkly. ‘If I stay with her much longer, I shall commit murder.’

  Ron chuckled as he took in the flush on her cheeks and the brittle brightness in her lovely eyes. ‘Perhaps I’ll give Tamarisk Bay a miss today, then, and walk with you.’

  Dolly hooked her hand into the crook of his arm and they set off across the rough grassland as the planes took off and landed at Cliffe in a never-ending stream. ‘You could always stay with us, you know,’ Ron told her.

  She hugged his arm to her side. ‘Bless you, darling Ron, that would be lovely, but I have to soldier on with Pauline for Frank’s sake. He’s such a lovely great bear o
f a man and so bewildered by her ever-changing moods. I really do worry that one day he’ll have had enough of it all, and simply walk out.’

  The same thing had occurred to Ron over the years, but Frank wasn’t the kind of man to walk away from his responsibilities. ‘He loves her despite everything,’ he said, ‘and I think he believes that if he sticks by her, she’ll eventually come right.’

  He took a deep breath and expelled it on a sigh. ‘Losing those boys was her undoing, Dolly, and now Brendon’s mixed up in this invasion, it’s no wonder she’s falling apart.’

  ‘That’s just it,’ Dolly said flatly. ‘She’s not getting hysterical or bursting into tears every five minutes. She’s showing absolutely no emotion and has stopped talking altogether. Refuses to acknowledge me or Frank and has taken to cleaning that little house to within an inch of its life. It’s more worrying, actually, because I’ve never seen her like this before, and neither Frank nor I know how to deal with it.’

  ‘We all have our way of coping with things that worry or frighten us,’ said Ron as they reached the country lane and headed for the stone bridge.

  ‘I know, and I suppose I should be more patient,’ said Dolly ruefully. ‘But there are times when I wish I could shake some sense into her.’ She stopped on the bridge to look down at the crystal-clear water that raced beneath it.

  ‘Pauline is so very different to Carol, who’s coped admirably with losing her husband and baby – and the fact she was evicted from her home so the Americans could practise for today. Carol’s even had the courage to accept my failings as a mother, and to forgive me for keeping Felix a secret all these years – but Pauline has seen the whole thing as a personal assault, and refuses to believe a word I say.’

  Dolly lit a cigarette and watched the planes landing, refuelling and rearming before taking off again. ‘There’s a steely calmness in Carol that I wish Pauline shared, but I fear she’s too like her father – caring only for herself and blind to the needs of those who love her.’

  ‘Things will be better once this war is over and Brendon comes home,’ soothed Ron.

  ‘I sincerely hope so, but if Pauline thinks he’ll move back in and stay with her, she’s in for a shock. Brendon has really fallen for little Betty, and I suspect he might very well settle down with her in Devon.’

  ‘I don’t think he’d be that cruel, especially if you and Carol go off to stay with Felix in America,’ muttered Ron. ‘He’ll stay a while to appease his mother, but he has a life to live, and plans for his own future with Betty – and who knows, Betty might want to leave Devon for pastures new, and a ready-made family to look out for her.’

  Dolly nodded and they began to walk up the track. Despite the turmoil in the skies and out in the Channel, bees and butterflies were buzzing and flitting in the hedgerows, skylarks were singing above the meadows and the air was filled with the scent of warm earth, dry grass and wild herbs.

  ‘You’re right as always,’ she conceded. ‘Betty was raised in an orphanage, and so has never known what it’s like to be part of a family; having you and Peggy close by will help enormously should Pauline prove to be a bit of a tricky mother-in-law.’

  Ron said nothing as he watched Harvey galloping along ahead of them in pursuit of a red admiral butterfly. He rather pitied any poor girl who had Pauline as a mother-in-law – for like Doris, she’d probably resent her arrival into her son’s life, seeing it as losing her boy, rather than gaining a daughter, and, ultimately, grandchildren.

  However, from what he’d heard about Betty from Brendon and Peggy, the girl had fought her own battles with being abandoned at an orphanage after contracting infantile polio, and the misguided opinions of the school board which thought cripples had no part to play in the education of children. She’d won all of those fights, and would know how to deal with Pauline – he’d bet his life on it.

  They finally reached the five-bar gate and headed down the manicured lawns to the broad terrace. It seemed most of the patients were taking advantage of the fine morning, for wheelchairs were clustered together as the occupants discussed the news of the landings with the nurses and orderlies who were assisting the amputees and the blinded.

  ‘It’s when you see things like this that you want this war over and done with as quickly as possible,’ murmured Dolly as they approached. ‘So many young lives already ruined, and who’s to say how many more there’ll be before we have peace?’

  ‘How come you managed to get down here with all that’s going on?’ asked Ron.

  ‘I promised Hugh I’d be back by the end of the week.’ She shot Ron a wry smile. ‘He’s very understanding when it really matters, and I suspect he’s as relieved as I am that Danuta’s home and on the mend.’

  ‘I’m sure he is,’ said Ron, weaving through the wheelchairs on his way to the double doors that led into the building. ‘But there is the rather vital matter of finding out who betrayed her – which I suspect is the main purpose of his largesse.’

  Dolly stopped in the doorway, her expression solemn. ‘That’s always been the priority, Ron, but the debriefing can only begin when she’s clear of mind and well enough to answer all the questions we have.’

  ‘Is the suspect one of yours, do you think?’

  Dolly’s expression was giving nothing away as she regarded him silently and then headed for Danuta’s room.

  Ron let her go on ahead, promising to catch up in a few minutes. He had a question of his own to ask – one that had been bothering him ever since his first visit to see Danuta. Now it was time to ask the only person who might give him a straight answer.

  Before leaving for work, Peggy had made sure Cordelia was dressed and back downstairs, and that Rita was coping with the knowledge that her father, Jack, was more than likely embroiled in the landings. The girl was clearly making a stoic effort to put on a brave face, and was planning to spend the morning at the fire station.

  Peggy headed for the factory, her loyalties torn between her duty to Solly and the needs of Rita and those who relied on her for comfort and mothering in this new and rather frightening turn in the war. The planes were still going back and forth in endless succession, but the thunder and roar of their engines was like a heartbeat, drumming away, each throb bringing this war nearer to an end.

  She held Daisy’s hand as they walked along the pavement, waving and smiling to friends and acquaintances along the way, not daring to stop and chat as it was getting very close to the start of her shift.

  Having deposited a happy Daisy at the nursery, she exchanged a few words with Nanny Pringle, who was positively beaming as she told Peggy there would be jelly and ice cream for the children at lunchtime thanks to Solly’s wife Rachel.

  The atmosphere in the factory was a little less light-hearted than it had been the day before because so many of the women had husbands, brothers, sons and lovers in the forces that were taking part in the invasion – and suddenly the war, and the very real danger they were in, was too close for comfort. There was an underlying sense of excitement that this could be the end of the war, but on the whole, the women were careful not to get too carried away, and set to work, always on the alert for the next news bulletin.

  It came at midday and utter silence fell throughout the factory as John Snagge’s mellow voice announced a special bulletin.

  ‘D-Day has come,’ he said. ‘Early this morning the Allies began the assault on the north-western face of Hitler’s European fortress. The first official news came just after half-past nine when Supreme Headquarters of the Allied Expeditionary Force – usually called SHAEF from its initials – issued communiqué number one. This said, “Under the command of General Eisenhower, Allied naval forces supported by strong air forces began landing Allied armies this morning on the northern coast of France.”

  ‘It was announced a little later that General Montgomery is in command of the army group carrying out the assault. This army group includes British, Canadian and United States forces.

  ‘Th
e Allied Commander in Chief General Eisenhower has issued an order of the day addressed to each individual of the Allied Expeditionary Force. In it he said, “Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well equipped and battle-hardened. He will fight savagely. But this is the year 1944. The tide has turned. The free men of the world are marching together to victory. I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less than full victory. Good luck, and let us all beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking.”

  ‘This order was distributed to assault elements after their embarkation. It was read by the appropriate commanders to all other troops in the Allied Expeditionary Force.

  ‘His Majesty the King will broadcast to his people at home and overseas at nine o’clock tonight.

  ‘No details have yet come in from the Allied side of the progress of the operations. The Germans, who have been broadcasting news of the attack on all their services except their own home service, say that the points assailed extend from Cherbourg to Havre, with the main weight of the attack in the area of Caen, which is some thirty miles west of Havre, and some sixty miles east of Cherbourg. They speak also of landings by paratroops, especially in the Havre area, and of stiff fighting. The important airfield at Caen has been one of the main targets for recent Allied air attacks.

  ‘There have been no reports of enemy air activity on this side of the Channel during the night or so far this morning.

  ‘The oppressed nations received the first news that big events were about to happen when a SHAEF representative broadcast to them that a new phase of Allied air offensive had opened. People in enemy occupied territory who live near the coast were warned to leave their homes as soon as they received warning of the coming attack. It would come about an hour before the attack and then they ought at once to make with all speed for the open country.

  ‘After communiqué one had been issued, General Eisenhower broadcast to the people of Eastern Europe, announcing the landing as part of the concerted United Nations’ plan for the liberation of Europe. He asked them to wait for the signal to rise and strike the enemy.